The Flash Fiction Writing Challenge is finally here! The Spare Room Project is hosting the Challenge to help you get ready for NaNoWriMo. Here are the details!

What is the Flash Fiction Writing Challenge?

Getting into the habit of writing every day, even if it’s less than 300 words, is a great exercise. Every day for the last week of October, we will be posting two pictures as inspiration for your short story. There are two categories for the Flash Fiction Writing Challenge: Everyday Vignettes or Flash Fiction.

Our definition of Flash Fiction here is going to be 300-500 words. Flash fiction is normally just classified as less than 1,000 words, but we want this to be accessible to everyone, even if you don’t have a ton of time this week. This may still be more than you feel you have time for, so we also have Everyday Vignettes.

Our definition of Everyday Vignettes is going to be the same as Karley’s: 200 words or less. This usually equates to a short scene, whereas Flash Fiction might be a couple of scenes. Karley says these pieces rarely take her more than 30 minutes. Easy enough to write over your lunch break!

Why Should I Do This?

Why shouldn’t you? This isn’t an immense undertaking. It’s maybe 30 minutes a day. I wrote TWO vignettes today in much less than half an hour!

If you want to win NaNoWriMo, this is an especially good exercise for you. While the average word count goal for NaNoWriMo is 1667 words per day, starting off with 150-500 words each day for a week at least gets you in the habit of daily writing. And if you write a full-length Flash Fiction (1000 words), you’re more than halfway to a NaNoWriMo daily goal!

If you’re not participating in NaNoWriMo this year, it’s still a great exercise. As Karley pointed out when discussing her Everyday Vignettes, “….Creativity is largely similar to physical fitness. A natural inclination towards creativity may make it easier, but anyone can be at least a little creative if one makes creativity a habit.” By writing a little bit each day, you’re exercising your creative muscles. A little bit can go a long way!

How Do I Do the Flash Fiction Writing Challenge?

It’s really simple! Choose one of the picture prompts that we post each day. Write up a scene or two that you think fits the prompt. Post your results in a comment on that day’s prompts post.

That’s it!

Optionally, if you really like the prompt image, click on it to go to the artist’s deviantArt page and give them a shoutout so they can see what their image inspired. It’s always nice to see that someone appreciated your work.

Don’t forget to invite your friends to join you. It always helps having someone along for the journey!

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